Questions Regarding 1930s Mills Castle Front Quarter Machine

[IanVS]

Sorry, I thought it was clear, from et777. I didn’t mean to hijack, as this is still regarding the machine being discussed here in this thread.

[madmelons]

I thought it was clear from buyer that hed bought machine from OP on the thread
and was miffed, in his opinion, that seller [OP] after being given info from the
thread contributors that he had not advised at point of sale and had misled the buyer
as to how machine came to him. eg from grandparents, whilst stating in opening post
that he purchased @ auction...However. always x2 sides to every story so OP can post
or not decide to post?

[nvmos2]

IanVS:

(quote) nvmos2, you mentioned a few missing parts, like the reel brakes. Should we look to replace those if we're going to be using the machine?[/quote]

IMO; no, not for light play/home use. Good to have parts, but you can do without them;
Reel brakes; used for fine tuning the mech; can speed up or slow down the reel spin to avoid "bouncing" stops. A good restoration with a strong kicker and clean reel hubs will include them, but some guys, often amateur restorers, don't want to mess with them and intentionally leave them off.
Slug cup; as long as you play straight clean coins, it may never get needed. But if you have kids who may play damaged or incorrect coins, the escalator may reject a coin and it will fall down into the case, possibly causing a jam or even damage. These sometimes come up on eBay or you can make one out of a Band Aid or other rectangular tin container. I once picked up a machine that had a Band Aid tin for a slug cup and it worked fine.
Rear lock-down latches; these hold the mech securely in place; with every play, torque from the handle is transmitted to the mechanism and may cause some movement in the mechanism without them which may cause mech misalignment or damage, but, on the other hand, you may never have a problem for light home use. Recommend you do not insert multiple coins and play it as fast as you can.

Sorry to hear that you were disappointed in your first slot purchase; hope it doesn't turn you off on this hobby.
I think every one of us has had a similar experience at one time, but, by far, the vast majority of guys who have been in the hobby for a while are honest sellers and would not intentionally misrepresent a machine.